Williams, Green Mountain See Opposite Sides of Middlebury Men's Basketball

Author: Matt Ross

Everyone knows what excuses are like. Well the Middlebury men's basketball team refuses to use any of them following a weekend of basketball that can only be described as disappointing. Following their loss to Williams, the team knew they had no time to bounce back with their next games against conference powers Amherst and Trinity.

The plan was to show up at Amherst fired-up and determined to win. Unfortunately for the Panthers, the plan fell through. Junior captain David Coratti summed up the 90-60 loss saying, "The game was very disappointing. We didn't show up with the passion or energy needed to compete."

Coach Brown put in his best effort trying to rally the team for another tough game against Trinity. The team came out of the locker room with the desire that it had lacked against Amherst. The Panthers, however, ran out of gas with less than two minutes left, allowing Trinity to walk away with the 76-69 victory.

The team started the long trip back to Vermont with an 0-3 record in the league, and the vision of a conference tournament birth fading on the horizon. Again, Coratti spoke for the team saying, "We now need to play with a sense of urgency. It will take a focused effort to move up in the standings. Every game is now a must-win."

The team's moral victories are starting to pile up. Pretty soon the real victories will have to catch up for the season to be a success. The goals the team set for itself in the preseason can still be attained, but only the leadership of Coach Brown and captains Coratti and Eric Bundonis '03 and stubborn determination can save them now.

On Tuesday night, the Panthers took out their loss-fueled aggression against the Green Mountain College Eagles. Led by a scintillating 19-point performance by Bundonis, the Panthers scorched the Eagles 99-69. "This was a good win going into an important weekend. After two disappointing losses, this is a big win to get us back on track for NESCAC games," said Adam Sinoway '05.

Middlebury improved to 11-6 with the win. This weekend, the team travels north to tip-off against conference rivals Bowdoin and Colby. Then, on Feb. 4 the Panthers will take on the UVM Catamounts in what could be its toughest game yet.